Sunday, June 21, 2015

Among his many accomplishments Alexander Hamilton has
provided common ground for conservative and liberal commentators.

Yesterday, I posted the remarks of conservatives Mona Charen
and Richard Brookhiser to the effect that Treasury Secretary Jack Lew had erred
in choosing to remove the visage of Alexander Hamilton from the ten dollar
bill.

This morning, liberal Democrat Steven Rattner, who once
served as an Obama administration czar, agrees that “one of the greatest of our
founding fathers” ought to retain pride of place on the ten dollar bill.

Like many conservatives, Rattner believes that no one will
suffer if Andrew Jackson’s face no longer graces the twenty dollar note.

As for Hamilton, Rattner offers his perspective:

We are
taught early on about Hamilton’s central role in the decision by the newly
independent United States to assume the debts of its former colonies, a key
step in constructing a sound monetary system and a creditworthy nation. That’s
just a tiny example of the achievements and the visionary genius of our first —
and greatest — Treasury secretary, who built the nation’s financial
architecture from scratch.

Over
Thomas Jefferson’s fierce opposition, he established the Bank of the United
States, which facilitated government transactions and the creation of our
national currency. Then there’s his 1791 Report on Manufactures, in which he
displayed his understanding of the key role government can play in promoting
economic development.

Not
content to report, Hamilton acted, turning Paterson, N.J., into our first
centrally planned industrial hub. If economic policy had been left to the
agrarian-oriented Jefferson, we’d all still be farmers.

Different people have different perspectives on the
achievements of Alexander Hamilton. But, from the left and the right there is
no real disagreement about the fact that his face should remain on the currency.